Movie: Finding Fanny
Director: Homi Adajania
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapur, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor
Genre: Comedy
Trailers are my favourite part of watching a movie in the theatre, other than watching the movie of course. Now trailers are like peep-shows, they are clandestine but reveal enough to entice you and keep you hanging on the edge of the seat, awaiting the release date. Of course, not all trailers deliver on their promises, but thankfully Finding Fanny does. Remember that last time when you had a dream in which one funny one thing lead to another, often making no sense whatsoever and yet you wake up in the morning with a huge smile on your face? Well then, I just described the movie for you. Finding Fanny is a dream, literally.
Homi Adajania, best known for his directorial debut ‘Being Cyrus’, brings us a story set in the sleepy town of Pocolim in Goa. A town where nobody’s business is everybody’s business, a postman Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah) finds an old letter slipped under his door; a letter he had written to the love of his life, Stephanie Fernandes aka Fanny 46 years ago asking her hand in marriage. Angie (Deepika Padukone) urges Ferdie to seek out Fanny and profess his love to her. Under a very unlikely circumstance, Angie, Ferdie, Rosie (Dimple Kapadia), Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapur) and Savio(Arjun Kapoor) come together on a road trip to find Fanny. But on that journey other than finding Fanny, each one them finds a piece of themselves, that was either missing or lying right in front of their lives, waiting to be acknowledged.
Finding Fanny is a not your regular Bollywood movie. It is a slow sleepy movie about reclaiming life, love and most importantly your own very self. Naseeruddin Shah once again proves why he is Grand Old Man of Indian Cinema. Cast into the role of a simpleton, he plays the part to perfection, making you fall in love with an adorable Ferdie. Dimple Kapadia fits the bill of an exasperating village belle; Pankaj Kapoor plays an obnoxious (but famous) painter who is in search of his last muse. Deepika Padukone as a young widow and Arjun Kapoor as a bitter lover, deliver decent performances, but they have had better. The good part of the movie is the road trip but the story keeps getting lost just like in the movie. There is some good comic timing that will make your giggle, but none will give you a stitch on your side.
The screenplay isn’t impeccable and if you sit down to scrutinise it, you will find yourself scowling a lot. But as I said before, watch it like you are watching a dream with your eyes open. It’s a pleasant experience and gets you thinking about second chances in life. As Angie said “If love doesn’t come knocking on your door, then you should go knocking even if there is no door to knock.” It is not a love story but it is a story about love, in a whole different way altogether. Finding Fanny is short movie and also worth the time. So go, watch and dream then!
My Verdict: ****
